


Kiss Someone Better

by Miraculous_Content



Series: MC-Lukanette's "No Context" November 2020 [7]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Confession, Consensual kiss, Endgame Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, F/M, Lila is a terrible Person, Non-consensual kiss, Salt (depending on how you look at it)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:48:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29941977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miraculous_Content/pseuds/Miraculous_Content
Summary: Lila is up to her usual tricks again, with Marinette silently seething in the background while trying not to make a scene. This time though, Lila goes after Luka, which might just end up working in Marinette’s favor in the end, at least in what matters most.
Relationships: Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: MC-Lukanette's "No Context" November 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2200050
Comments: 1
Kudos: 35





	Kiss Someone Better

Marinette tried not to be obvious with her annoyance, but it was difficult when she _knew_ that Lila had come to the Liberty _specifically_ to irritate her. It wasn’t even her paranoia creeping up, as Lila had made it clear from their first day of face-to-face interaction that she wanted to make Marinette’s life miserable. The worst part was that everyone else either believed her or tolerated her, meaning Marinette looked unreasonable no matter what she did to combat it.

She figured she should’ve known that Luka would be Lila’s next target. The Liberty had always felt like somewhat of a safe haven - funny, considering who owned it - so it had only been a matter of time until Lila had heard enough to decide to show up there.

_“Oh, she seemed so curious to actually be on a houseboat! She’s only ever been on yachts and stuff before! How could we say ‘no’?_

Marinette tried to keep her lips shut tight so the gritting of her teeth wasn’t seeable to anyone. The best she could do was watch from afar and keep any unkind comments internal while vaguely fantasizing about being Ladybug and dumping Lila in the garbage where she belonged.

Luka, to his credit, didn’t seem to take Lila’s bait like everyone else. She’d sought him out and he technically listened to her (as she lied about all the music people she knew and all the connections she could give him), but he was mostly occupied with tuning his guitar, only giving her a vague noise every now and then to signal that he was listening.

It was one of Marinette’s few joys of the day, which made it twice as infuriating when Lila ruined it.

"Anyway, Luka,” Lila added, her voice saccharine and fake, “I _really_ hope you and I can become _great friends._ ”

Luka’s eyebrow twitched.

“And don’t worry, I would never force you. I know there are _some people like that,_ who want to make everything go their way—”

Marinette knew it was a jab at her even though she definitely wasn’t that kind of person; from Lila’s point of view though, of course she’d think that.

Lila continued, “but _I’d_ never do that to you, okay? I promise!”

For the first time since she’d been talking to him, Luka turned to her, his expression somewhere between neutral and the annoyance he showed at listening to XY’s “version” of Kitty Section’s music. “Can you _please_ —”

He didn’t get to finish that sentence, as Lila suddenly leaned in to _kiss him._ Luka jerked away the moment it registered with him, but it was already too late; the contact had been made.

All the anger that had been stewing in Marinette’s stomach bubbled to the surface. She stormed over, her body language confrontational as she asked, “What do you think you’re _doing?!_ ”

The outburst had gotten the attention of the other girls. Though they hadn’t seen it, what happened was obvious given the way Luka was covering his mouth.

Lila turned to face Marinette, sinking to that vulnerable state she used so much whenever she got caught. “I-I didn’t mean to! I meant to kiss his cheek and he turned too quickly.”

It was a lie, and Marinette knew it. Lila had intentionally said things to make Luka look at her so she could kiss him, all to irritate Marinette.

“You see…” Lila pressed her palm to her cheek. “I-I thought a cheek kiss would be okay. You don’t seem like the type of person who would be close to someone like him, and everyone told me that _you_ do it all the time.”

Marinette was fuming at the implication, feeling personally insulted at the idea that she and Luka weren’t close.

And they’d _told_ her. Her friends had been gossiping about her to Lila, or at least telling her details, which Marinette herself had _definitely_ not consented to.

She went to toss a glare her friends’ way, but they were already rushing forward to assure Lila that everything was okay, with Marinette having to step away or risk getting knocked back with the way they formed around her.

“M-maybe I need to re-learn French customs. I spent so long away from the country and other places have—”

Marinette wasn’t listening anymore. She knew how this went and didn’t want to be around to see another repeat of it, nor her friends potentially shouting at her. She turned away with a frustrated exhale, speed-stomping away and going up the stairs to head outside.

Passing by the cabin, she went into the greenhouse-esque area with all of the larger plants, plopping down on the long flower-patterned seating with a heavy sigh. She’d fallen right into Lila’s trap, _again,_ and couldn’t help being angry at the whole situation.

Going after _her_ was one thing, but _Luka?_ And to kiss him like that on top of trying to lure him in with her deceit? Marinette knew deep down that she had a right to be upset at Lila’s actions, but the way she reacted to it just ended up making Lila look like the victim instead of Luka. Had she failed him?

She groaned into her clasped hands, imagining that Luka must’ve thought that she looked like a fool shouting like that. She liked to think that she would’ve done things differently had she been able to do it again, but she was still angry and honestly just wanted to go off on Lila again.

She didn’t move, though briefly considered going home. After all, it’d be pointless going back downstairs, as she’d probably just end up being glared at and blamed for Lila being upset. Luka probably didn’t want to see her either after that display anyway.

As if her concerns had summoned him, she suddenly heard his voice call out to her from nearby. “Marinette?”

She stiffened, then lowered her hands enough to peek at him. When none of the negative emotions she expected showed on his face, she lowered them the rest of the way.

“Are you okay?” he asked gently.

She straightened, jaw slack that’s _that_ what he was concerned about. “Am _I_ okay? What about _you?!_ ” She gestured wildly to him. “That—that akuma-luring _harpy_ just _kissed you!_ ”

She realized what she said and covered her mouth, knowing that it was a much more direct insult than she usually would’ve gone with. Luka, however, tried to suppress a laugh from it, snorting loudly into his hand.

“I—” He cut himself off, still chuckling too much to speak. After a few seconds, he took a breath to calm down, then gave her a calm smile and continued, “I washed my mouth out, just to make sure.”

Marinette tried to keep her negative emotions at the forefront, but then _she_ was trying to suppress her laughter as well. She almost felt bad about it, but the wide grin on Luka’s face showed that he’d fully intended for her to have that reaction. He walked over, taking a seat down next to her and leaning forward to maintain eye contact.

He waited until she quieted herself down with a final squeak that he asked again, “Really, are you okay?”

The smile she had on from laughter faded, though her spirits were still much higher than before. “Not really. She—she’s always doing that.” She glanced at him. “Let me guess, they’re catering to her?”

He nodded. “They’re planning on having lunch without you since you—” He made a face, clearly displeased. “—'made her so upset.’” He stared out of the glass opposite of them. “I wasn’t going to join them.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said, though her voice was soft from being touched by the gesture.

He gave her a smile. “I know, but I’d rather have lunch with _you_ than with everyone else and that—” He smirked. “— _'harpy.’_ ”

Marinette tried to bite back a smile of her own, but couldn’t. Hearing the pure-hearted Luka say an insult so brazenly, even if he was just parroting her own, was too funny not to smile at.

“Thanks~” she said gratefully.

“I should be thanking _you,_ ” he argued. He leaned back in his seat, but didn’t stop looking at her. “For being so upset on my behalf.”

She blushed, looking away with both shyness and embarrassment. “I-I was really loud though.”

“You play your song for everyone to hear, Marinette. I love that about you.”

She blushed deeper, mentally cursing his smoothness. “How are you so _okay_ with this?”

“I’m not,” he replied, “not _really,_ but…” He shrugged. “That kiss didn’t mean anything to me. It wasn’t real.”

She looked over at him, frowning. “T-that was your first though, wasn’t it?”

His brows rose in surprise, his face telling her everything she needed to know even before he responded. “…Well, yeah.”

Now that she’d had it officially confirmed, Marinette bristled. “ _It’s not right!_ ” She huffed and turned to him, throwing her arms out. “Your first kiss is supposed to be _special_ and with someone you really love! It’s not supposed to just be _stolen_ from you like that!”

He touched a hand to his chest, clearly touched by her passionate anger. She turned red and forced herself to look away from him, finding it hard to stay angry when he stared at her that way.

“…And I know you were already pretty upset with her, I could _see it,_ ” she explained, “so it wasn’t like I felt like I _had_ to get angry _for you,_ but still. She doesn’t care what anyone thinks and I’m mad at _her_ for kissing you like that and I’m mad at _me_ because she only did it to get on my nerves and I know I _shouldn’t_ be mad at me because _she’s_ just mad that I won’t fall for her lies but I’m mad anyway because I still let her rile me up when that’s exactly what she wanted.” Burying her face in her hands, she whined and added, “I guess I wasn’t jealous at least - not in _that way_ anyway - since I’d never want to do anything to you without your permission like _she_ did, but I know she _meant_ for me to get to jealous because I just—”

She cut herself off, the words clogging up her throat and forcing her to swallow them. She raked her fingers through her hair, mentally debating with herself if she _really_ wanted to tell Luka everything.

But of course she did. Not only did he deserve it, but she felt responsible for her feelings and it was her fault that things happened the way they did, even if it was indirect on her part.

“I…” She closed her eyes and sighed, her voice lowering itself to a whisper. Hunching over, she wrung her hands together and admitted quietly, “ _I_ wanted to be your first kiss…”

Silence took over the conversation from there, but she understood. She just dropped a bomb on him and couldn’t expect him to reply right away, so she let the seconds drag on without any judgment on her part.

Eventually, she heard the sound of Luka sliding himself closer, so close that the side of his hand briefly touched her leg. He inhaled softly like he was about to speak, stopped, then tried again.

“You… you what?”

She steeled herself up, the words only slightly easier to say than before. “I wanted to be your first kiss. I-I’m selfish, and I know that. _Everyone_ knows it, and that’s why—”

His hand touched her leg again. She briefly jumped in surprise, then realized moments later that the touch was intentional this time, as he’d fully settled his hand on her leg. Fighting against her nerves, she turned to look at him and saw how relaxed his expression was.

“You can be selfish.”

“W-what?”

“It makes me happy. It means that—” He paused, his cheeks tinting pink as he smiled wide. “—you really want me.”

It almost sounded like a question the way he said it, his eyes distant only in a way that implied that he’s still absorbing what she’d said.

Her chest filled with hope as she squeaked out, “I… _I do._ Of course I do.” Looking down at the hand on her lap, she placed her own onto it and gave it a squeeze. “But…”

The hope twisted and fought with the shame attempting to take its place, memories of the past coming back to haunt her. She averted her gaze fully, staring off at nothing in particular. “I-I can’t give you my first kiss.” She squeezed his hand tighter, as if that made anything better. “There was this akuma, and I had to… I mean—”

She felt his hand shifting in hers and immediately worried that she’d squeezed it too hard. She loosened her grip, only to feel his hand turn itself around to hold her hand back, pressing their palms together. The motion made her look back and make eye contact with him.

“Then that wasn’t real either, was it?” he asked gently. Giving a fond glance down at their joined hands, he added, “This might be more Rose’s type of music than mine, but I think the only kisses that have to matter are the ones that you put meaning into playing.”

She gaped. It was still registering with her that he was not only _okay_ with her crushing on him, but still returned it. “S-so… it’s not any different? You’d let me kiss you anyway?”

“I never thought about first kisses or second kisses, or any verses beyond that,” he told her, placing his other hand on top of their joined ones. “I only care about _your_ kisses.”

Marinette’s cheeks turned crimson, and she nearly burst into happy laughter. She settled for beaming at him, still amazing at how easily he could ease all of her worries and doubts.

“Then… I’ll give you all of them.”

She shifted, continuing to hold his hand while her other went to his face. He leaned into her touch, making her all the more eager to pull him in. He didn’t protest when she did, his hand moving away from their joined ones to grab her shoulder.

They kissed. Marinette was momentarily surprised when Luka’s lips seemed to have a hint of wetness to them, only to realize that he’d _meant it_ when he said that he’d washed his mouth out. She giggled mid-kiss, positively _delighted_ to have someone like him, and he responded to the sound with a soft noise of content. She stroked his cheek with her thumb, then slid her hand down to his neck to urge him closer. He did the same with her shoulder, pulling her in and deepening the contact.

It took a few seconds of internal debate for her to convince herself to break the kiss to talk to him, and she enjoyed the slight whine he made as she did so.

“Better than Lila?” she asked, knowing the answer but wanting to hear it regardless.

“ _Definitely,_ ” he replied without hesitation, leaning in to touch his forehead to hers.

She hummed. “Mm, good.” She pulled him back in for a smaller, quicker kiss that was no less loving than the last. Full of confidence, she felt it safe to say, “I should always be playing my boyfriend’s favorite song.”

His reaction was immediate, his eyes sparkling and his smile wide. She blushed red, overwhelmed and half-regretting saying anything. He was just too much.

“What is it?” he asked when she averted her gaze.

“P-please stop smiling like that,” she whined.

“I can’t,” he said. More to himself than her, he added cheerfully, “I’m your boyfriend.”

“ _Luka!_ ”


End file.
